Dengeki Bunko is the giant of light-novel imprints. Launched by MediaWorks in June 1993 and now part of the Kadokawa group, it grew into the largest label in the format, and in April 2009 it began publishing Sword Art Online, a series that has since sold past thirty million copies and pulled a generation toward isekai. A Certain Magical Index, Shakugan no Shana, and countless others started on its pages too. For the figure world, Dengeki Bunko reads less as a brand than a wellspring, the source of characters makers have sculpted for thirty years.